Why is the former director of the Catalan Anti-Fraud Office on trial?

MadridDaniel de Alfonso, former director of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC), He was dismissed in 2016 for allegedly being linked to the dirty war against the independence movement. His name came into question following the publication of conversations held just before the November 9th referendum, in which he conspired with former PP Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz to fabricate information incriminating leaders of Convergència e Esquerra (Convergència e Esquerra). Once he left the organization, it came to light that De Alfonso and two other former senior OAC officials received additional salaries through "undue" three-year periods—amounting to €200,000—and through other items added to their paychecks, such as a quality bonus. This was stated this Monday by the Anti-Fraud lawyer and the Prosecutor's Office in a trial before the Court of Auditors, which will now have to decide whether De Alfonso's accounting liability has been proven and order him to repay the money.

What does the defense say?

De Alfonso's defense team seized on the "political motive" of his dismissal to cast doubt on the charges against their client. "Do we want to teach a lesson to the traitor in Catalonia or do we want to seek the truth?" said De Alfonso's lawyer, Santiago Milans del Bosch, at the hearing. He attended the trial without the defendant, who was not required to be present. De Alfonso's defense team, which has not denied the charges, has sought to disassociate him from the management of the payrolls, shifting responsibility to Josep Maria Sangenís, the former head of human resources, who also benefited financially from the irregularities.

What is the accusation based on?

"The argument that De Alfonso knew nothing or that it was a maneuver by Sangenís cannot be sustained," countered Rosa Maria Pérez, the Anti-Fraud attorney, who accused the former director of the OAC of "willful, deliberate, and deliberate" behavior. Both the Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Accounts and the OAC attorney defend the same argument. According to the accusations, the former director of the Anti-Fraud attorney set in motion an "architecture" of misappropriation of public funds to ensure that his remuneration and that of his inner circle "unduly increased." "The facts are fully proven," Pérez argued, reaffirming that there is documentation that leaves no room for doubt about the accounting irregularities authorized by De Alfonso to benefit himself financially. The OAC attorney has asked the Court of Accounts advisor in charge of the case, Elena Hernáez Salguero, who has 20 working days to issue a ruling, to "remedy this injustice and undermining of the public budget."

How much money are they claiming from you?

The OAC and the Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Auditors are demanding that De Alfonso repay more than €205,000 (plus interest) as the person responsible for the accounting irregularities. Specifically, these are €180,033 in inflated three-year salaries received by the former OAC director, €12,030 corresponding to Sangenís, and €6,317 received by the deputy director, Maite Masià. They are also demanding €7,528, which was divided between De Alfonso and the head of human resources, resulting from the fact that they attributed higher percentages of a quality salary supplement to themselves than they should have.

Where does the case stem from?

The proceedings have reached trial after seven years. They were initiated in the Court of Auditors in mid-2018 after an audit commissioned by De Alfonso's successor at the OAC detect multiple irregularitiesThe courts on Monday are part of those identified in the reports on De Alfonso's term conducted by the Audit Office. De Alfonso currently serves as a magistrate in Cantabria and, according to his lawyer, has become "enemy number one of the Catalan poor." "He was ousted for political reasons, not because of irregularities," insisted Milans del Bosch, who lamented that De Alfonso had to leave "his beloved Catalonia" because he suffered persecution.